Please help us to educate Eve Ensler! She’s coming to Boston this month!

You’ve probably heard of The Vagina Monologues. You may not know that
the book and play promotes the idea that clitorectomy occurs in
Africa, or perhaps a long time ago in America, but not here and now
(page 66 in the V-Day edition). There’s also a dreadful line in the
play, in which a father tells his daughter, who was born without a
vagina:

We’re gonna get you the best home made pussy in America.
And when you meet your husband, he’ll know we had it made just for him! (page 99).

Aside from the implication that a woman’s body should be
surgically altered purely for the benefit of a hypothetical future
husband, this passage ignores the realities of what happens to a girl
when doctors decide to “fix” her vagina.

First, please take a moment to learn about these realities, in the
following personal narratives by Marguerite Morris and Angela Moreno:

Next, you should know that Boston is a major center for genital
surgeries on intersex infants, and that Eve Ensler will appear later
this week at an event where audience feedback is encouraged (details
below). Please go to this event, and raise the issue of genital
mutilation! Every performance of The Vagina Monologues contributes to
the invisibility of IGM (Intersex Genital Mutilation), and makes it
that much harder to stop.

If you are going to see The Vagina Monologues, print one of the above
articles (or pick up the issue of Sojourner) and give it to the
person behind you in line!

If you belong to an online activist community, forward this email to
them, or point them to ISNA’s website (which has a news story on the
front page about The Vagina Monologues).

>A conversation with Eve Ensler hosted by Carol Gilligan:
>Carol and Eve will discuss THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, the V-DAY MOVEMENT,
>and the general state of women’s VAGINAS.
>
>Monday, March 26 @ 7pm — FREE!
>Simmons College Alumnae Hall (321 Brookline Ave., Boston)
>
>Even Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues, the theatrical
>phenomenon that’s changed women’s language, lives and love for our
>bodies.
>Carol Gilligan is a groundbreaking psychologist and author of In a
>Different Voice, Between Voice and Silence and many other works.
>
>Audience feedback will be encouraged!
>